The Abalone Ukulele (ePub)

In this historical adventure, cultures from China, Korea, Japan, and the United States collide in 1913 over three tons of Japanese gold ingots.

Three ordinary men-a disgraced Korean tribute courier, a bookish naval officer, and a polyglot third-class quartermaster-must foil Japanese subversion and, with sub rosa assistance from Asiatic Station, highjack that gold to finance a Korean insurrection. Three ordinary women complicate, and complement, their efforts: an enigmatic changsan courtesan, a feisty Down East consular clerk, and a clever Chinese farm-girl.

It is a tale that wends through the outskirts of Peking to the Yukon River; from the San Francisco waterfront to a naval landing party isolated on a Woosung battlefield; from ships of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet moored on Battleship Row to a junk on the Yangtze; and from the Korean gold mines of Unsan to a coaling quay in Shanghai. Soon a foreign intelligence service, a revolutionary army, and two Chinese triads converge on a nation's ransom in gold...

Praise for The Abalone Ukulele

"A masterclass in historical fiction. With painstaking research and a gift for story spinning, Crossland brings to brilliant life a sprawling epic of greed, gold, and redemption. Crossland's gift for converting historic details into character and narrative makes The Abalone Ukulele an immersive read." -Joseph A. Williams, author of Seventeen Fathoms Deep and The Sunken Treasure

"Crossland's tale of shenanigans, greed, nobility, [and] slivers of grace propels across a geography spanning Shanghai, the Klondike gold fields, and San Francisco's wharves. His characters are elemental, with a commedia dell'arte quality... . Clues to a mystery are sprinkled skillfully throughout, keeping the reader turning the page." -Loretta Goldberg, author of the award-winning novel, The Reversible Mask

"Maritime historical fiction in the tradition of Patrick O'Brian." -Steve Robinson, author of No Guts, No Glory